RBS boss says no number set for "significant" investment bank job cuts

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland
has yet to decide how many jobs it will cut at its investment
bank after announcing a major downsizing of the business last
week, its Chief Executive Ross McEwan said on Tuesday.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that up to 14,000 of
18,000 jobs at RBS's investment bank could be cut, citing two
people familiar with the matter.

"Until we've gone through and worked through the sale or
rundown of these businesses, and also had good consultation with
our unions and our staff, there is no number," McEwan told Sky
News on Tuesday.

However, McEwan acknowledged that the number would be
significant and sources familiar with the matter confirmed to
Reuters that thousands of jobs would be lost.

RBS is shrinking its investment banking operations
dramatically, pulling out of 25 countries in Europe, Asia and
the Middle East while cutting jobs at its U.S. trading business
in Connecticut.

Its investment bank expanded dramatically under former CEO
Fred Goodwin, culminating in the disastrous acquisition of ABN
Amro in 2007, which nearly destroyed the bank prior to its 45
billion pound ($69 billion) bailout.

McEwan, who took over as chief executive in 2013 from
Goodwin's predecessor Stephen Hester, has refocused the bank on
lending to British businesses and households.

Announcing the restructuring last week, he told reporters:
"This marks the end of a standalone global investment bank model
for RBS."
(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by David Goodman)